Fulbright Award in Artificial Intelligence Ethics / Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP)
Deadline for applications is September 15, 2023, for AY2024/2025
OVERVIEW
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year. Grantees can research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.
Over the last decades, Portugal has seen remarkable progress in learning, science and innovation, reflected in the quality of education offered at Portuguese universities. Internationalization and academic mobility are one of the priorities for Portuguese higher education institutions, which are increasingly attractive to a growing number of international students, scholars and researchers.
To learn more about Portuguese Higher Education Institutions and Research Centers, visit Study & Research in Portugal.
The Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States of America and Portugal – Fulbright Commission Portugal strives to be a collaborative and innovative organization and is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.
We seek to ensure that all our grants, programs and activities reflect the diversity of U.S. and Portuguese societies and are open to people regardless of their ethnicity, sex, age, religion, geographic location, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
We work every day to build a culture of inclusiveness, respect for diversity, and understanding of the many differences that enrich the Fulbright Program.
AWARD DETAILS
AWARD ACTIVITY AND DISCIPLINES
Category: U.S. Scholar Program.
Type: Teaching / Research.
Award Activity: The recipient of this award is expected to collaborate in the project “Artificial Intelligence and the Common Good” (AICG) which will be launched at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in order to study the ethics of artificial intelligence.
The project will promote inter-university collaboration between scholars from U.S. universities and scholars at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The goal is to study, write, and publish about “human-centered” Artificial Intelligence – an ethical ideal that aims to offer guidelines for the implementation of A.I. in order to safeguard distinctively human knowledge, skills, and capacities, and to respect the dignity of the human person, in contrast to a manipulative human-machine relationship that substitutes mechanical processes of human judgement, weakens social ties, and undermines individual agency, in the interest of a small technological elite.
This research group will study ethical questions relating to Artificial Intelligence, including the following:
- how to maintain democratic norms of transparency and accountability in an age of “black box” A.I. systems;
- how to approach the problem of A.I. driven unemployment and inequality;
- whether A.I. is weakening independent human judgement and skills;
- the problems of algorithmic bias; and
- what moral limits should be placed on the use of A.I.: technologies such as workplace surveillance, social robotics, hyper-targeted advertising, facial recognition cameras, and emotion-reading technology.
Moral philosophers influenced by the Catholic intellectual tradition have at their disposal a rich concept of the human person – including conceptions of the ethical virtues and ideals of community life and social practices oriented to human goods. This tradition can help to define and deepen our notion of human-centered A.I., and to recognize the dangers posed by un-ethical, or “runaway” A.I. systems.
The recipient of this award will contribute to the research with this project, as well as participate in research seminars and other conferences to disseminate the findings of the project.
Scholars Selected for this Award can choose to:
- Advise and/or mentor students
- Assist in faculty, curriculum, and/or program development
- Conduct a research project designated by the host institution
- Conduct a research project of the applicant’s choosing
- Teach graduate and/or undergraduate courses designated by the host institution
- Teach graduate and/or undergraduate courses of the applicant’s choosing
- Participate in a two-week group seminar
Disciplines: Only applications in the following disciplines will be considered:
- Information Sciences/Systems
- Philosophy
- Political Science
Areas of Interest: While this award is open to any project in the disciplines listed above, there is interest in Scholars from any of these particular areas:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Ethics and Moral Philosophy
- Data Science
- Moral Psychology
- Human Rights
AWARD LOCATION AND PERIOD
Location: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Institute of Political Studies, Research Center of the Institute of Political Studies (CIEP), Research Group in Technology, Data and Politics. Lisbon, Portugal
Length: Four months
Period: Preferred starting month is September, as agreed with the Portuguese host institution.
AWARD REQUIREMENTS
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Citizenship/Residency Requirement: Applicants residing in Portugal at the time of application or thereafter are not eligible to apply for this award.
Permanent residents of Portugal are not eligible to apply for this award.
Invitation Requirement: A letter of invitation is optional.
If applicants can obtain the letter of invitation, the letter of invitation must express the host’s interest in the project and describe the proposed activities and timeline for the project; it must be written in English and printed on institutional letterhead.
Degree Requirements: Ph.D. (or other terminal degree) required
Language Proficiency Requirements: None, English is sufficient.
The candidate’s qualifications must include interest and experience in researching and teaching ethics and political philosophy, especially the relation between morality, human rights, technology, and human nature.
Additional Comments:
AWARD BENEFITS
Grant Stipend: €11,200 (approx. $11,708), which corresponds to a monthly stipend of €2,800 (approx. $2,927).
Housing allowance: €3,000 (approx. $3,136), which corresponds to a monthly housing allowance of €750 (approx. $784).
Award allowances are paid in a lump sum on the first month of the grant.
Travel Allowance: €1,100 (approx. $1,150), for grantees only. Travel allowance is paid on the first month of the grant.
DEPENDENT BENEFITS
The Fulbright Commission offers funding for dependents who stay with the scholar during the entirety of the grant period.
Amounts are determined prior to the start of the academic year, according to availability of funds.
ESTIMATED COST OF LIVING
An estimate of the cost of living in Portugal can be found on websites such as https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living.
Estimated monthly costs can range from €500 ($522, for one person) to €2,000 ($2,090, for a family of four), without rent.
(Exchange rate of December 1, 2022)
The host institution provides computer facilities, internet access and e-mail, office space and secretarial assistance.
APPLICATIONS
Number of Grants: One Grant to Award.
Applications: Applications must be submitted through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program website: 24439-PT – Fulbright Award in Artificial Intelligence Ethics / Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP)
Deadline: September 15, 2023.
Additional Information: For more information about the U.S. Scholar Program in Portugal, contact Dora Reis Arenga, US Program Manager at the Fulbright Commission Portugal, darenga@fulbright.pt.
Catholic University of Portugal, Research Centre of the Institute of Political Studies – Research Team: https://iep.lisboa.ucp.pt/ciep-research-team
Assistance will be provided by the Research Centre Team: Joana Ramos at email: ciep@ucp.pt or telephone: (+351) 217 214 129.
Candidates can seek further information with William Hasselberger (hasselberger@ucp.pt) and Francisco Nunes (fnunes@ucp.pt).
For additional information about the U.S. Scholar Program in Portugal, contact Dora Reis Arenga, U.S. Program Manager at the Fulbright Commission Portugal, darenga@fulbright.pt